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The New Impact VXi - First Thoughts - Jill Kintner

First of all, the old Impact shoe by five ten has been a staple piece of gear for YEARS to any downhill mountain biker. Sam Hill Won the first Elite Downhill World on flat pedals with that shoe in '07, and many many other riders have had it as their go to shoe ever since.

Over the past year and a half, Five Ten asked a bunch of riders from their "Elite" team about ways to improve a few different shoes. With the redesign of the Impact, the Impact VXi addressed issues regarding the weight, protection, and weatherproofing, like the athletes requested.

So my first thought on this shoe was that the weight was hands down the most notable improvement. This shoe is so light compared to the old Impact, but stiff in the right places, malleable through the toes, with the same amount of stiction to the pedals with the Mi6 rubber. The whole shoe overall is a bit more sleek too. The little impact dots on the bottom are smaller in diameter, but it didn't really seem noticeable vs the old bigger dots of the last generation impact and freeriders. It might be better for hiking, but hard to say after one ride.

Weatherproofing is such an important part of this new shoe as well. Wet soggy shoes are no fun, and weigh you down. This has been considered, and water and mud seem to shed off a lot better rather than absorbing into the material. It's a smooth coated surface.

Toe protection seems really good on this shoe as well. If you have ever clipped anything with your foot on a trail , you will know the importance of a bit of reinforcement. The pinkie toe has a bit of reinforcement too on the side, which is a must. Cowboys have the same idea with their steel toe boots; keeping toes safe when kicking rocks. These are not steel, but there is some sort of rubber/plastic composite to keep your foot safe. You can notice the protective quality along the sole of the foot as well, while still being able to feel the pedal. Wizard engineers know their materials. Really impressive to have damping in the rubber, stiffness on the platform, and still be able to feel for control of where your foot is on the pedal.

The only real other thing, that may be different for other people, is that I would probably order a half size smaller. The toe box area is nice and roomy and this shoe is comfy, but a little tighter fit would be better, I think. I had some extra room in a 7.5 where in the old Maltese clips and Minnaars 7.5 is my standard size. 7 for these probably.

So there you go. I think these shoes ride really well. Sam Hill was wearing/ racing in these bad boys at the last two races of 2013, so he must like em as well. Colors look good too.